Buy Brunello while you can

My recent rest-and-relaxation visit to Montalcino ended 10 days before the Sangiovese hit the fan in that tiny hilltop commune in south-central Tuscany (see Montalcino vineyards update).
 
In late March, a magistrate in Siena halted the shipping of the 2003 vintage of Brunello di Montalcino, pending an investigation into whether producers broke the law by using grapes other than Sangiovese in their famed, fantastically age-worthy Brunellos. 
 
With several of the 2003s below now in lockdown and likely not going anywhere any time soon, now is the time for Brunello lovers to purchase what they can from existing retailer stocks...